Static mixers heretofore have been used to mix and/or condition one or more fluids flowing through the mixer. These mixers typically contain no moving parts and often rely on the division of the flow into smaller flow streams that are forcibly diverted away from neighboring flow streams through the use of baffles or spiral inserts of rigid material inserted into the flow path. The multiple subdivisions and recombinations of the stream within the static mixer effect mixing and/or conditioning of the fluid stream.
In many industries, including the semiconductor industry, the size of the static mixer and it's associated dead volume and pressure drop are considerations in the design of a processing system. A device that can effectively mix fluids in a more compact package with less pressure drop and less dead volume would be highly desirable. Minimizing pressure drop makes the fluid system more efficient and reduction of dead volume reduces waste during flushing and thereby minimizes the latency or lag time between recipe changes and the physical change in the output.